IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-S) 


4 


W' 


^ 


m. 


o 


4LP     M'  - 


fe 


1.0    !f:«- 


I.I 


1.25 


50 


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2.0 


1.8 


U    IIIIII.6 


pjiotooranhic 
Sci&es 

Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  873-4503 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


'^ 


Technical  and  Bibliogmphic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibticgraphiques 


The 
to  th 


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D 


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I      I    Cover  title  missing/ 


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D 


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Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


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poss 
of  th 
filmi 


Orig 
begi 
the  I 
sion, 
othe 
first 
sion, 
or  ill 


D 


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shall 
TINl 
whic 

Map 
diffe 
entir 
begi 
right 
requ 
metl 


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Ce  docrment  est  film^  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqui  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


26X 


30X 


n/^ 


12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


J 


28X 


32X 


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empreinte. 


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shall  contain  the  symbol  -^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED "),  or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"}, 
whichever  applies. 


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dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbcle  — ♦-  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbole  V  signifie  "FIN". 


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different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
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right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
fiimds  i  des  taux  de  reduction  diff^rents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  cliche,  il  est  f\\m6  A  partir 
de  I'angle  sup6rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

S 

6 

■s/ 


'    ... 


Li 


s/ 


A  REVIEW 


n 


or    THE 


AWFUL  DISCLOSURES 


MARIA  MONK. 


IN  WHICH    THE  PACTS  ARE  r.MRI.Y  STATED,  AND  CANDIDLY 
EXAMINED. 


BY  G.  VALE, 

No,  84  Rosevelt  Street,  New-York. 
1836. 


V%' 


«^<»i\C\"\ 


6^//0 


E;<TERF.n,  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  183G, 
by  G.  Vale,  in  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  of  the  Southern 
District  of  New- York, 


KA.'20  B35 


A  REVIEW 


OF  THE 


DXSCLOSURXSS 


or 

WpfpaTtoo  from  The  book,  that  Maria  Monk  related  the  sub- 
.Y,n  foTthe  consents  of  the  book  to  Mr  Tappin  in  the  Alms 
«  .ep.  La  that  Sernati  confirms  this  statement  to  us.  We 
House,  antljnat  f  ""^ijy..,,;  ^^  ^   ,t     ^  t^ok  Maria  from  out 

^'It'X  House  recevT  her  tes/imony  and  took  her  to 
n  n/,l«  Zd  reDresented  her  case  to  the  British  authorities 
Se  that  ?hese  obtained  a  manuscript  copy  of  her  statemerjt, 
there,  that  inese  ouia  ^        suppose  to  the  head  of  the 

P  1  nfaTDeTartmen  ^ti  Son,  and  then  wait  for  instructions : 
?rnr  tha?  amrter   wa  do  not  however  expect  any  action,  as 
i^Z  will  S in thrBritish  Government.    Mr  Hoyt,it  appears 
Tn  Ss"'tuf rpJepa^      to  publish  this  account  from  a  seco^ 
copy  which  he  had  preserved  and  applied  to    ^f  ^^Vj^J^^ 

L'Seir:. ffilen'Sfn  ° tnllhi^e  be.ie.e  to  be  the 


I 


I  I 


I'. 


i 


.JSi'.*'^      ..i'iS* 


r-*'^'t' 


Jj^aH^a;" 


I      ► 


history  of  the  book  published  by  Howe  &  Bates,  in  which  how- 
ever, the  nani'^  oi'  IJoyt  is  not  luentioiicd.  The  copy  right  it 
npi)cais  is  securcil  by  «ne  P.  Gordon,  and  as  far  off  as  the  Dis- 
trict court  uf  Massachusetts;  and  beiii;;  tlms  secured  l^y  a  person 
not  well  known  in  New  York,  and  in  arutther  state,  wiii!e  the 
publishers  where  in  this  city,  at  first  awaked  our  suspicion  that 
aU  was  not  right:  and  we  seriously  doubled,  if  any  such  person 
existed  as  Maria  Monk,  or  the  persons  to  whom  she  refers  in 
her  book.  From  the  Catholic  Bishop  of  New  York  we  first 
learned  that  there  were  such  convents  as  those  named  by  Maria, 
and  that  there  was  such  a  Bishop,  and  that  such  priests  did 
exist  as  she  names  in  connexion  with  the  convent ;  thus  confirm- 
ing the  ground  work  of  Maria's  story.  Wo  then  visited  the 
chaplain  of  the  AlrHs  House,  and  from  him  obtained  the  fiict 
that  the  contents  of  the  book  accorded  with  what  she  had  told 
him.  Be  also  related,  or  rather  we  extracted  from  him  the  facts 
we  have  j^iven  in  relation  to  Mr  Hoiyt,  Dr.  Brownlee  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Bourn  ;  the  ohjcct  of  the  latter  gentlemen  was  to  se- 
cure an  interest  to  Maria  Monk  in  the  work;  while  he  speaks 
also  respectfully  of  Mr  Hoyt,  as  deserving  a  remuneration  for 
the  expense  and  trouble  he  has  been  at  in  making  public  this 
affair.  With  the  subject  of  the  property  we  have  nothing  to  do, 
nor  do  we  know  that  our  readers  have  :  but  we  have  to  do  with 
the  contents  of  the  book ;  and  so  has  every  person  in  the  com- 
munity. 

This  book  then,  contains  the  following  facts :  That  there  arc 
three  convents  in  adjacent  buildings  in  Montreal,  and  a  semi- 
nary very  near  the  convents;  these  convents  are  the  Congrega- 
tional,the  Black,  and  the  Grey  Nunneries  ;  the  first  devoted  to 
the  education  of  girls  ;  the  second  to  the  caie  of  the  sick,  dis- 
tributing bread  and  medicines  ;  and  the  last  for  the  benefit  of 
the  insane.  The  inmates  are  novices  and  nuns;  the  former 
may  at  any  time  leave  the  convent,  and  are  only  admitted  to  a 

{)art  of  the  building ;  the  nuns  of  the  Black  Nunnery  never 
eave  the  building,  but  are  admitted  to  all  the  rooms  in  the  nun- 
nery, and  take  oaths  when  they  take  the  veil,  which  bind 
them  to  obedience  to  thejpriests ;  those  of  the  Congregational 
nunnery  go  out,  and  form  the  teachers  for  a  considerable  dis- 
trict about  the  country. 

Of  the  Black  Nunnery  we  shall  chiefly  speak,  for  of  that 
Maria  was  a  Nun,  and  she  informs  us  that  m  addition  to  the 
charitable  object  of  the  institution,  that  the  nuns,  about  one 
hundred  and  eighty,  were  all  prostitutes  to  the  priests,  about 
one  hnndred  and  fifty,  including  those  for  a  large  district,  mak- 
ing the  seminary  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  nunnery  their 


5 

home;  that  the  decency  of  selection  was  not  even  observed, 
but  that  promiscuous  intercourse  was  earned  into  effect  by  bru- 
tal force  and  cunning  on  the  part  of  the  priests  and  generally 
by  an  unwilling  consent  on  the  part  of  the  females,  who  me  de- 
ceived on  taking  the  veil,  when  they  expect  to  lead  a  Utc  oi 
chastity,  but  after  taking  an  oath  to  obey  the  priests  in  ail  things 
are  immediately  unceremoniously  informed  by  the  Lady  feupo- 
rior.that  that  oath  extends  to  prostituting  their  persons  it  re- 
quired by  the  priests,  who  being  priests,  cannot  sm  ;  and  this 
IS  followed  up  by  Maria  informing  us  that  on  the  very  evening 
of  her  taking  the  veil,  that  Father  Dufrcne  violated  her  per- 
son and  then  two  other  priests,  who  treated  her  brutally  j  that 
Father  Dufrene  again  visited  her  on  the  same  evenmg,anc  con- 
tinued with  her  till  morning.    She  informs  us  too,  that  these 
thin'^s  are  done  in  the  most  brutalizing  manner,  corrupting  the 
minS  by  the  most  extreme  grossness;  and  when  the  females  are 
shocked  by  such  conduct,  they  are  informed  that  they  must 
consider  it  as  the  will  of  God,  and  that  it  is  intended  to  niorti- 
fv  the  flesh  in  them.    The  consequences  of  this  extended  sen- 
suality, including  all  the  priests  and  all  the  nuns  m  the  black 
Nunnery,  is  that  a  great  many  children  are  born  in  the  year, 
and  Maria  seriously  informs  us  that  these  are  at  first  baptised 
and  then  murdered  by  strangulation,  and  privately  buried  or 
thrown  into  a  deep  hole  in  the  cellar,  into  which  quick-  me  is 
thrown,  and  a  fluid  poured  in  to  take  off  the  smell  and  destroy 
th«  body,  bones  and  all.    The  nuns  too,  are  murdered,  if  they 
resist  the  will  of  the  priests,  or  are  known  to  wish  to  escape  ; 
andSMaria  gives  a  minute  account  of  one  such  murder,  at 
which  she  assisted.    She  declares  too,  that  there  was  nearly  a 
uniform  disappearance  of  an  old  nun  with  the  appearance  of  a 
new  one,  thus  implying  that  the  old  ones  are  murdered,  leaving 
ve^y  fTw  to  die  a  natural  death :  even  one  Lady  Superior  was 
suddenly  missing,  and  another  appointed  by  t^ie  bishop     Ut 
the  Bishop,  whom  she  distinctly  names,  she  declares  that  she 
lei  him  in  one  night  by  a  private  door,  and  passage  which  led  to 
the  Superior's  room,  and  that  he  lay  with  the  Superior  foi  that 
ni<'ht  while  Maria  slept  on  a  sofa  in  the  same  room.    Fnests 
fre°auently  retire.  Maria  observes,  into  the  Holy  Retreat  suppo- 
sed by  the  world  for  prayer  and  meditation ;  but  which,  Maria 
declares  to  be  a  pretence,  and  that  in  those  oases  they  are  dis- 
eased, and  that  inconsequence  of  their  disease,  n^^s^-^^dis- 
eased  also;  and  that  when  she  left  the  convent,  Father  Tombau 
was  in  the  Holy  Retreat.    Even  the  times  of  confession  are 
said  by  Maria  to  be  prostituted  to  voluptuousness ;  and  that  the 
priests  corrupt  the  minds  of  young  girls  and  novices  at  that  pe- 


'-.:ii''t^     .r»» 


$ 


nod,  by  proposing  quoations,  implying  the  grossest  conducl.and 
by  indulging  in  gross  sensuality  with  nuns  who  go  to  confers 
.ilone  into  a  room  with  them. 

The  Seminary,  we  remarked,  is  the  receptacle  of  the  prinsts 
all  around  the  counay,  nnd  from  that  place  they  visii  the  nun- 
rcry  for  the  purposes  now  mentioned:  Marin,  too,  assures  us 
that  a  subterranean  passage  leads  from  the  seminary  to  the  nun- 
nery.and  that  another  Itvids  from  liiu  Conijregational Nunnery  to 
the  Black,  and  that  nuns  from  the  former  establishment  visit  the 
other  for  improper  purposes.  Thus  Maria  mokes  the  broad  as- 
sertion that  the  whole  establishment  is  a  brothel  for  the  priests, 
who  indulge  in  gross  sensuality  and  murder  without  compunc- 
tion. ' 

These  facts,  if  true,  cannot  be  too  extensively  circulated,  and 
if  false,  the  baseness  of  publishing  them  should  be  unmasked; 
especially  as  respectable  names  on  both  sides  are  connected  with 
the  publication,  though  no  such  name  is  attaclied  to  the  Iwok  ; 
and  if  the  truth  be  doubtful  from  the  manner  of  getting  U|)  the 
book,  then  the  simplicity  of  those  who  have  assisted  Maria  in 
getting  up  the  book,  should  be  made  manifest,  and  some  other 
persons  more  competent  should  tiike  up  the  subject,  and  produce 
such  proofs  of  the  above  facts,  if  belicvea  true,  as  would  be  in- 
controvertible. 

THE  GENERAL  ASPECT. 
Gross  as  the  charge  is,  as  made  by  Maria  Monk,  there  is  cer- 
tainly a  consistency  in  the  whole ;  and  therefore  the  probability 
IS,  that  the  whole  is  either  true  or  false,  with  exception  of  indi- 
vidual cases  :  if  all  the  priests  are  given  to  gross  voluptuous- 
ness, then  that  spirit  would  be  seen  in  their  corrt'essions  of  young 
girls,  as  explained  by  Maria  :  children  would  be  born,  and  must 
be  disposed  of;  while  the  fear  of  exposure  would  even  suggest 
the  murder  of  anyone  who  should  attempt  to  escape  ;  for  one 
crime  leads  to  another  :  but  that  the  old  nu7is  should  be  killed, 
or  mysteriously  disappear  as  young  ones  are  introduced,  ex- 
ceeds credibility,  ai  least  at  first  sight ;  for  if  the  idea  was  pre- 
valent  in  the  nunnery,  surely  the  old  nuns  would  seek  to  escape, 
and  an  exposure  would  have  taken  place  long  ago.  In  the  case 
of  the  old  nuns,  the  account  exceeds  that  of  any  tale  of  the 
wor«t  ages  of  the  church,  or  when  royal  protcstant  and  reallv 
interested  commissioners  had  authority  thoroughly  to  investi- 
gate nunneries ;  the  utmost  extent  of  their  reports  was  that  they 
discovered  so7ne  convents  where  the  priests  and  nuns  were  whol- 
ly given  up  to  voluptuousness  :  it  was  never  pretended  that  all 
the  nunneries  were  in  this  state;  or  that  all  the  priests  were  thus 


I' 


corrupt;  an;!  never,  as  \vr.  recollect,  thnt  the  oltl  nuns  were  dc- 
sl.ovcd,'— this  iH  certainly  i  modern  discovery. 

"VVc  think  it  witliin  th-     angje  ol  possihility  that  a  whole  coni- 
niunity  of  priests,  pos.scssinir  sini^lc  l)lfssediicss,  in  coniiiiiinion 
witii  women  simiiurly  siluatcd;should  roirupt  the  women, hound 
hy  oaths  to  obey  in  all  things;  and  we  tlunk  a  youn^  priest  so 
sitUi»l«Hl,  tVeqiicntly  cuid'cssinir  a  heautifid  yomi<;  nun  siiiularly 
sitnate(j'iri  u  room  where  none  duied  to  enter;  that  in  most  ea- 
ses the  nalnral  pussi-.ns  would  i)irvail  over  every  other  leehn-  . 
but  that  all  the  nun  t  siiould  enter  in  i-norance  <t  this  stale  ul 
thin^^s,  and  expecting  the  mortification  of  such  passions,  and 
the  exercise  of  personal  piety,  that  these  should  bo  immedialely 
inmiersed  into  invuluntury  volui)tuonsntssof  the  grossest  kinil, 
involving  childniurder  inantieipiUion, and  ih:it  several  <d' these 
shouh!  not  make  their  escape  and  declare  it  to  the  world,  is  al- 
most incredible;  (specially  as  most  of  these  yjunjr  women  are 
really  very  pious,  iind  in  sincerity  take  the  veil ;  that  such  per- 
sons shoidd  so  act,  without  ne«iuenl  ell'orti;  tu  cscai.e,  greatly 
increases  the  incredibility. 

There  is  indeed  one  view  by  which  we  may  suppos';  the  con- 
vent at  montreal  more  corrupt  than  others  ;  and  that  is  the  fact, 
that  ''  •  '■  ■">'  a  vvith  the  French  at  a  very  corrupt  period,  and 
the  <.  'ng  in'o  the  hands  of  the  British  after  the  lit  loi  - 

'  the  purii'ying  inlluence  of  those  searching 
-  •iiich  transfer  took  place  before  the  French 
d  also,  the  equally  purifying  eilects  of  thai 
is  a  counter  balance  it  is  now  und.;r  the 
;rlul  and  ellective   Protestant  Guverrnneni, 
sumumded  by  r.w.estants,  (new  colonist,)  and   a  neighl-'!  , 
the  independuntrrotestant  United  States;  thus  aflording means 
of  protection  to  any  individual  who  sl.ould  make  disclosures. 
The  British  Government  often  oppre  s  some  for  policy;    but 
they  do  afford  complete  pr  )tection  to  wh^t  are  called  their  sub- 
jects, from  injury  I)y  other   subjects,  however  powerlul :  the 
Morgan  murder,  an<l  the  murders  in  the  South,  would  not  have 
been  committed  witli  imi>ut,ity,  under  the  powerful  protection 
ofthc  British  Government.     The  Truth  oftlie  book  however 
depends  upon  oth^r  circumstances  ;  thu.s— 1.  is  xVlaria  Monk 
credible  for  tacts,  where  her  eviuencc  could  have  no  colatcral 
support'?     2.  What  evidence  does  ^:he  oficr  in  her  power  to 
obtain  besides  her  own  1  '.).  Is  there  such  an  accordance  beiween 
the  several  of  parts  of  the  detail,  as  to  establish  thepresumjition 
of  truth  1    In  the  absence  oi  almost  all  external  evidence  we 


mati 

time 

Itcvo 

great 

protectio 


t 

shall  investigate  ihc  internal,  by  examining  iho  above  qucs- 

h  Maria  Mank  credible  for  fad  a  v/herc  her  evidence  could  hdve 
no  colntrral  support. 

After  Muria  had  been  as  a  fiuvico  in  the  nunnery  for/owr  ©r 
five  years,  (averai(cd  4i)  she  left  the  nunnery  without  leave, 

and  bernme  an  assistant  teacher  in  a  common  school.    Weshall 
now  quote  apart  from  the  book  itself. — 

"  While  eniiraged  in  this  manner,  1  becam.'  acquainted  with  a 
man  who  soon  proposed  marringe  ;  and  your«  -  and  ignorant  of 
the  world  as  1  was,  I  heard  hLs  ofFer.s  with  tUvoai .  On  consult- 
ing with  my  fiiend,  she  e.xpresscd  a  friend!)-  interest  for  me, 
advised  me  against  taking  such  a  step,  and  especially  as  I  knew 
little  about  tlie  man,  except  that  a  report  was  circulated  un- 
favourable to  his  character.  Unfortunately  1  was  not  witta 
enough  to  listen  to  her  advice,  and  hatjtily  married.  In  a  few 
weeks,  I  had  occassion  to  repent  of  the  step  I  liad  taken,  as  the 
report  proved  true— aieport  which  I  thoujrht  justified,  and  in- 
deed required  our  seperution.  After  I  had  been  in  St.  Denis 
about  three  months,  finding  myself  thus  situated,  and  not  know- 
ing what  else  to  do,  I  determined  to  return  to  the  Convent,  and 
pursue  my  former  intention  of  becoming  a  Black  nun,  could  I 
gain  admittance.  Knowing  the  many  inquiries  that  the  Supe- 
rior would  make  relative  to  me,  during  my  absence  before  leav- 
ing St.  Denis,  I  agreed  with  the  lady  with  whom  I  had  been 
associated  as  a  teacher,  (when  she  went  to  Montreal,  which 
she  did  very  frequently,)  to  say  to  the  Lady  Superi  r  I  had 
been  under  her  protection  during  my  absence,  which  would  sa- 
tisfy and  stop  furtner  inqury  as  I  was  sensible,  should  they 
know  1  had  been  married,  I  should  not  gain  admittance." 

Thus  we  find  Maria  a  married  woman /or  a  fctv  wetks,  with- 
out stating  who  is  her  husband,  and  what  were  the  peculiar 
circumslanccs  of  her  separation  :  and  she  distinctly  informs  us 
that  she  entered  the  convent  under  false  pretences,  previously 
arranged  ;  in  which  she  induced  her  friend  to  act  a  part :  and 
thus  fixes  upon  herself  the  character  of  a  rfdikm/eZ?a/-.  Her 
motive,  too,  for  entering  the  convent  is  no  higher  than  "  not 
knowing  what  else  to  do"  she  does  not  appear  to  have  been  even 
in  distress,  and  being  on  friendly  terms  with  her  iateimployer 
who  even  lied  to  serve  her,  we  s'uppose  she  might  have  return- 
ed from  her  few  week's  marriage  to  her  school  again.  By  this 
means  Maria  procured  admittance  into  the  nunnery,  for  tne 
third  time,  on  which  occasion  she  thus  speaks:— 


k= 


.^i.1- 


"The  money  usually  rociuircii  Tor  the  inimifsion  of  noviccR 
hadnut.  brt'u  i.x|»et.lGil  tiuiii  iiu  .  1  hml  lu  cu  a<iii»ilU;d  ihf  lirsl 
lime  wilhdiil  any  :iuih  rcciuisiiion;  hut  now  I  chose  lo  p-vy  it  lor 
my  je-itdmisiiiuii.  I  knew  tliat  fslio  (ihe  t?U|ti!rior)  \v,is  able  to 
dispense  vvitlisu(;h  ii  diinand  as  well  in  iLisaa  llieloi..K'r  case, 
and  she  knew  thai  1  was  not  in  possession  ol'a.jy  llung  like  the 
sum  she  requireu 

Bui  1  was  bent  on  paying  to  tlie  Nunnery,  and  aceustomed  to 
receive  the  doctrine  often  repeated  lo  me  before  that  lime,  that 
when  the  advaiUa^^eof  the  cliurcli  waHCinisulted,  the  steps  tak- 
en were  juslihable,  let  them  be  what  they  would.  I  ihorefoif, 
resolved  to  obtain  money  on  false  pretences,  conhdcnl,  that  if 
all  were  known  it  would  '"  *•  r  from  displeasing  the  Superior. 
I  went  lo  ihe  brigade  i  ■ ':  -,  and  asked  him  to  give  me  tlie 
money  paya'jle  to  my  mu.aer  from  her  pension,  wliich  amouiil- 
U)  about  thirty  dollars,  and  without  questioning  uiy  authority 
to  receive  it  in  her  namt ,  he  gave  me  it. 

From  several  of  her  friends  I  obtained  small  sums  under  the 
name  of  loans,  so  that  altogether  I  had  soon  raised  a  number 
o'  OL'.ndH,  with  whith  I  hastened  to  the  INuiniery  and  deposited 
a  part  in  the  hands  of  the  Sup<-rior.  She  received  the  money 
with  evident  satisfaction,  thoHgh  she  must  liave  known  that  I 
could  not  have  obtained  it  honestly  ;  and  I  was  at  unce  rc-ad- 
mitted  as  a  novice." 

Now  unfortunately  Maria  Monk,  establishes  her  character  by 
this  portion  of  her  *)Ook  we  have  extracted  as  a  thief,  extending 
her  depredations  to  several  of  her  friends,  and  undertaken  deli- 
berately for  no  very  pressing  object :  Maria  attempts  to  palliate 
this  conduct  h^(mcrthiii\\\\.\X  the  Superior  7Am.<:/  have  known  the 
money  dishonestly  obtauied,  and,  thus  making  her  as  bad  as 
herself;  but  this  is  ciearlythe  assertion  of  an  acknowledged  thief 
and  liar:  the  Superior  may  be  as  bad  as  herself,  we  are  not  dis- 
posed to  defend  her,  but  tiie  proof  is  certainly  wanting.  Maria 
in  another  paragraph  insinuates  that  this  conduct  is  agreeable 
to  the  religious  docirines  or  instructions  she  had  received,  and 
that  if  ai^  were  known  it  would  "  be  far  from  displeasing  the 
Superior."  This  we  must  remark,  really  savors  of  Protestant 
inlluerce  in  getting  up  the  book  ;  it  looks  very  much  like  a  Pro- 
testant suggestion :  we  are  not  partial  to  Catholicism,  but  in 
moral  honesty,  Catholics  appear  o.i  a  level  with  oth  jr,;,  varying 
like  other  people  with  circumstances.  In  pages  8i  and  8f), 
Maria  shows  that  she  was  instructed  in  lying  by  the  Superior, 
and  that  she  voluntarly  lied  to  deceive  the  friends  of  liie  Novi- 
tiats,  and  in  page  82  and  83,  she  shows  that  the  priests  instructed 


\  ■,' 


^^"^ 


10 

her  in  lying  and  in  Ihe  distinction  between  a  religious  lie  and 
a  wickca  lie  :  and  in  various  parts  of  the  work,  she  shows  that 
she  habitually  lied,  sometimes  in  conjunction  with  a  nun  called 
Jane  Ray,  and  sometimes  on  her  own  account,  for  her  own 
benefit.  Now  put  together  her  mysterious  few  week's  marriage, 
her  deliberate  deceptions,  her  obtaining  money  from  several  of 
her  friends  as  well  as  her  mother's  pension  by  deception,  her 
acknowledged  habitual  lying  in  the  convent,  and  the  little  prin- 
cipal which  induced  her  to  enter  that  establislmient  on  the  third 
time,  and  the  conclusions  we  must  coma  to,  is,  that  Maiia  Monk 
is  a  weak  unprincipled  woman  whose  single  testimony  cannot 
be  depended  on.    We  proceed  now  to  the  second  questions. 

What  evidence  does  Maria  offer,  within  her  power ^  or  that  of 
her  patrons,  besides  her  own  ? 

The  answer  is,  none,  from  one  end  of  the  book  to  the  other 
there  is  scarcely  a  single  reference  that  is  accessible,  confirm- 
ing any  important  point  in  the  book ;  and  yet  there  was  the 
means  of  obtaining  iome,  and  if  this  some  had  been  procured 
it  would  undoubtedly  have  led  to  other  cvid  ,nce :  if  however  no 
attempt  has  been  made  to  support  her  testimony  by  other  evi- 
dence, there  are  some  indirect  references,  from  which  we  glean 
a  little,  and  which  in  the  hands  of  an  intelligent  and  diligent 
person,  would  have  been  the  means  of  ferreting  out  the  truth, 
if  the  truth  was  desired.  In  p.  2^4,  Maria  shows  that  Mr.Con- 
roy  the  Catholic  priest  of  this  city,  called  o.x  her  in  the  Alms 
House,  but  that  she  declined  to  see  him  j  she  declares  he  called 
several  times,  and  that  he  waited  once  an  hour  in  a  room  where 
sbr  sometimes  was,  but  still  he  never  saw  her;  that  finding 
she  declined  seeing  him,  he  sent  to  her  several  messages  by  one 
or  more  Irish  or  other  women,  and  among  other  things  these 
messages  contained  the  following,  "  That  I  (Maria)  need  not 
think  to  avoid  him,  for  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  do  so. 
That  I  might  conceal  myself  as  well  as  I  couid,  but  I  should  be 
found  and  taken."  He  informed  her  too,  "  that  he  had  receiv- 
ed full  power  and  authority  over  me  (3Iaria)  from  the  Superior 
of  the  Hotel  Dieu  Nunnery  of  Montreal."  She  says  at  length, 
that  she  agreed  to  see  him  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  T.  (Tap  :u 
the  chaplain)  or  Mr.  S.  "  which  however  was  not  agreed  tt..' 
She  concludes  by  saying,  tJ^at  she  heard  that  Mr.Conroy  conti- 
nued to  visit  the  house:  'once,'  she  remarks,  '  I  had  determ. fl- 
ed to  leave  the  institution,  and  go  to  the  Sisiers  of  Charity ;  I  ut 
circumstances  occurred  which  gave  me  time  for  further  rellic- 
tion ;  and  I  was  saved  jrom  the  destruction  to  which  I  should 
have  been  exposed,^'    The  last  line  was  marked  in  italics  just 


as  we  have  done.  Now  here  we  have  an  indirect  reference  ; 
Mr.  Conroy  is  mentioned,  and  Mr.  Tappin  referred  to.  We 
have  not  seen  Mr.  Conroy,  we  find  it  unnecessary,  for  we  get 
better  testimony.  Mr.  Tappin,  the  Chaplain,  informed  us  that 
he  believed  the  book  true  "  except  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Oonroy, 
that  there  were  a  few  things  said  about  hun  that  were  not  cor- 
rect; that  Maria  Monk  was  surrounded  by  a  set  of  idle  vaga- 
bond  women,  who  to  frighten  her  i  Id  her  all  manner  of  tales. 

If  these  are  not  the  exact  words,  they  are  the  exact  sense ; 
and  thus  we  find  that  the  07ily  fact  we  have  the  means  of  test- 
ing is  a  lie !  in  which  Maria  is  supposed  to  have  been  deceived 
by  a  set  of  idle  vagabond  women  ;  and  this  certainly  suggests 
the  possibility  of  her  having  bean  deceived  in  other  parts,  by 
perhaps  a  set  of  idle  vagabond  men.    Mr.  Tappin    too  tells  us 
that  Mr.  Conroy  never  was  there  an  hour,  but  that  he  called 
perhaps  several  times,  and  as  she  would  not  see  him  he  declin- 
ed callin«':  this  precisely  accords  with  the  bishop  s  sttitement 
to  us  on  "the  subject,  and  therefore  we  conclude  this  account 
correct;  and  Mr.  Tappin's  testimony  extremely  honorable  to 
himself,  whatever  may  be  his  opinions.    When  Mr.Hoyt  went 
to  Canada  with  Maria,  he  had  a  fine  opportunity  to  test  some 
points  of  importance,  and  these  as  we  before  observed,  would 
necessdrily  lead  toother  discoveries:  and  if  he  neglected  such 
an  opportunity  of  strengthening  her  testimony,  it  satisfies  us 
that  either  he  dared  not  make  the  inquiry,  or  was  incapable  of 
getting  up  the  work,  with  what  assistance  he  got.     In  page  '^,, 
Maria  relates  that  «^irZ  told  her  of  certain  mdeceneies  of  a 
priest  when  at  confession,  she  aftei^vards  repeals,  p.  29,  that 
several  young  women  told  her  similar  stories  and  that  these 
agreed  with  her  own  experience  :  yet  not  one  of  these  girls  are 
named,  who  are  not  said  or  supposed  to  be  nuns ;  and  these 
could  have  been  sought  out,  and  this  part  of  her  testimony  sub- 
stantiated, and  thus  have  rendered  probable  other  parts,  m 
coHnection  with  this  fact.    In  p.  28,  is  the  account  of  the  mur- 
der of  a  young  beautiful  squaw,  by  a  priest,  who  ran  away, 
and  whose  bloody  knife  was  found  near  the  body ;  but  the  wame 
of  the  girl  is  not  given.    In  p.  113,  is  an  account  of  a  horrid 
and  brutal  murder  of  a  young  nun,  St.  Francis,  who  had  been 
abused  by  some  priests,  and  had  imprudently  spoken  of  escape, 
and  determined  not  to  yield  to  prostitution     This  woman  was 
murdered  in  the  presence  of  Maria  and  a  large  body  of  nuns, 
the  Bishop,  Superior,  and  several  priests :  her  friends  had  been 
informed  that "  she  had  died  a  glorious  death,  and  some  of  her 
heavenly  expressions  were  repeated :"  yet  St.  Frances  was  well 
known  to  Miss  Louise  Bosquet,  of  St.  Denis,  the  school  mis- 


'  ii 


mmmmm 


^-**^ 


■'«%S»«#ite' 


fl 


n 


li 


12 

tress  with  whom  Maria  had  lived :  through  her,  Mr.Hoyt  when 
in  Canada,  might  have  found  her  friends,  v/ho  had  been  cheat- 
ed ;  and  they  might  have  demanded  a  legal  enquiry,  under  the 
protection  of  the  British  Government;  and  in  this  way  the  truth 
must  have  been  confirmed :  but  Mr.  Hoyt  or  Maria  has  given  us 
no  such  information,  and  if  each  individual  wants  to  test  the 
truth,  he  must  now  go  to  Canada,  and  indict  certain  individuals 
belonging  to  the  convent  upon  the  testimony  of  Maria  an  ac- 
knowledged har  and  thief;    but  Mr.  Hoyt  could    have  done 
this  for  the  whole  community,  and  thus  established  the  truth  of 
his  statements,  and  made  his  publication  respectable:  at  the 
same  time  too  and  from  the  same  people,  Mr.  Hoyt  could  have 
known  the  fact  of  hei   few  week's  marriage,  and  thus  have 
tested  other  parts  of  her  story.    In  page  16:5  Maria  relates  that 
the  Superior  cheated  an  old  priest,  a  little  in  liquor,  by  impos- 
ing on  him  an  old  unsaleable  ornament  made  in  the  house,  and 
adds, '  WE  all  approved  the  ingenious  device,  and  assisted  in 
•deceiving  him:'  the  ornament  was  charged  to  his  account,  and 
he  was  obliged  to  have  it.     Now  this  priest  is  not  named.but  he 
was  acce.ssible  to  Mr.  Hoyt,  and  as  no  man  likes  to  be  cheated 
the  facts  could  have  been  drawn  from  him,  and  then  we  might 
believe  that  a  Superior  who  would  cheat,  and  avail  herself  of 
the  assistance  of  the  nuns  to  assist  in  the  cheat,  that  she  mi^-ht 
instruct  young  nuns  to  prostitute  their  persons:  this  would  not 
have  been  positive  evidence  for  other  parts,  but  it  would  go 
lur  to  render  other  parts  probable.     Mr.  Hoyt  too,  might  have 
had  the  child  sworn  to  Father  Phelin,  parish  priostof  Montreal 
and  thus  have  brought  the  affair  into  court,  and  gradually  have 
brought  out  the  truth  :  or  he  might  have  seen  the  holy  father 
privately,  and  if  a  liar  in  the  case  of  Maria',  he  might  have  de- 
tected  it,  for  liars  do  not  make  a  very  straight  storvwhcn  closlv 
examined.  ^ 

Now  as  Mr.  Hoyt  has  done  none  of  these  things  when  he 
might  have  done  some  of  them  at  least.  We  conclude  that 
Maria  has  not  snpported  her  testimony  by  any  other,  when 
from  her  character,  such  support  was  essential  to  the  credibil- 
ity of  the  work. 

Is  there  suck  an  accordance  hchoecn  the  several  parts  of  the 
detail  as  to  establish  the  presumption  of  the  truth. 

We  noticed  in  the  former  part,  that  Maria  had  given  no  re- 
ference to  persons  that  were  available;  there  is  the  same  neg- 
lect of  dates,  for  which  indeed  she  partly  accounts,  when  she 
says  that  m  the  nunnery  dates  were  neglected,  either  by  design 
or  accident.  If  Maria  is  sincere  and  her  narrative  true,  this 
omission  of  dates  is  very  nnfortunate  for  her  j  but  if  she  has 


-«*»i*s'  -n.im- 


18 


not  told  the  truth,  the  omission  of  dates  may  be  designed  on 
her  part:  but  it  is  hard  to  conceal  the  truth,  and  Maria  com- 
mits herself  on  the  subject  of  her  age,  if  Mr.  Tappin  is  correct 
in  his  supposition.     In  page  20  she  relates  that  she  entered  the 
Catholic  school  or  School  of  tlie  Nunnery,  at  ten  years  of  age. 
In  page  30,  she  relates  that  she  left  the  school  after  two  years, 
at  which  time  she  must  have  hc^vclve  ;  and  befoie  this  pe- 
riod she  relates,  p.  29,  that  snc  heard  at  confession  v/ords  from 
the  mouths  of  priests,  what  slic  cannot  relate,  and  experienced 
treatment  corresponding;  and  that  other   females  experienced 
the  same.     On  leaving  the  nunnery,  Maria  informs  us  that  she 
soon  became  dissatisfied,  especially  with  her  home,  the  parii- 
culars  of  which  are  mo/  explained,  and  she  concludes,  "  While 
out  of  the  nunnery  J  saw  nothing  of  religion  ;  if  I  had  I  believe 
1  never  should  have  thought  of  becoming  a  nunp    This  expres- 
sion struck  us  on  first  reading,  as  not  natural  to  Maria,  brought 
up  a  Catholic,  and  who  did  not  a  short  time  since,  even  after 
the  manuscript  W(.s   written,   acknowledge  conversion.     We 
thought  at  first,  and  we  think  so  now,  that  it  savors  of  protes- 
tant  influence,  and  thus  partly  deteriorates  the  work.     Being 
as  she  says  soon  dissatisfied,   (without  designating  the  exact 
time,)  she  entered  the  Black  Nunnery  as  a  novice ;  after  some 
prudent  delay,  and  caution  on  the  part  of  the  principals  of  the 
Convent.     Maria  informs  us,  p.  43,  that  she  left  this  convent 
after  a  residence  of  about  two  and  a  half  years;  her  expres- 
sion as  to  time  is  this :— '  After  1  had  been  a  Novice  four  or 
five  years,  that  is,  from  the  time  I  commenced  school  at  the  Con- 
vent, &c."  that  is,  from  the  time  she  was  ten  years  of  age,  and 
hence  she  would  be  at  the,  time  of  thus  leaving  the  Black  Nun- 
nery, fourteen  and  a  half,  taking  the  average  of  four  or  five 
years.     Maria  left  the  Nunnery,  it  appears,  without  leave  or 
notice:  admitting  that  no  opposition  would  ha\e  been  made 
to  her  departure,  had  she  made  her  wish  known.     On  thus  lea- 
ving the  Convent  in  disgust  at  the  behaviour  of  some  of  the 
nun°s  to  her,  she  went  to  St.  Denis,  and  resided  at  first  as  an  as- 
sistant to  a  young  lady,  her  friend,  who  kept  a  common  school, 
and  while  thus  engaged,  she  married,  as  before  related,  before 
she  was  fourteen  and  three  quarters,  for  at  that  period  she  had 
been  marrie(^  and  separated  from  her  husband,  and  returned 
again  to  the  Oihvent;  as  she  remained  at  St.  Denis  only  three 
months  altogether :  we  have  before  related  how  long  she  re- 
mained married,  and  what  meat  s  she  used  to  get  into  the  Con- 
vent, and  we  now  only  notice  it  for  the  sake  of  the  time.     '  Noj 
knowing  what  else  to  do,'  she  says,  she  again  entered  the  Nun 
nery,  and  soon  after  took  the  veil,  as  if  she  were  a  maid,  and 


■SIMMHiMMPM 


14 


*^.- 


expecting  to  be  devoted  to  chastity  and  religious  duties,  as  she 
herself  says.  Now  in  the  title  page,  we  find  that  she  was  a 
nun  two  years,  and  this  would  make  her  not  quite  seventeen 
when  she  left  the  nunnery  with  child  by  Father  Pnelin,  parish 
priest  of  Montreal, as  she  says.  She  was  admitted  into  the  Alms 
House,  and  delivered  of  a  child  last  Autumn,  as  we  were  in- 
formed by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tappin,  the  chaj)lain  and  his  lady;- 
and  Mr.  Tappin  informs  us,  that  ohe  was  then,  when  in  the 
Alms  House,  or  when  he  was  in  the  habit  of  seeing  her,  about 
twenty-five  years  old :  now  allowing  that  she  was  six  months 
out  of  the  convent  before  she  was  delivered,  and  that  is  the  ut- 
most she  could  be,  for  she  left  in  horror  of  child-murder,  as 
she  says,  (and  she  could  not  be  sure  of  being  with  child  more 
than  six  months  before  her  delivery,)  then  her  age  would  be  ta- 
king the  average  only,  and  that  in  favor  of  her  statement,  she 
would  then  be  seventeen  years  and  a  half  at  the  time  of  her  de- 
livery, and  now  she  would  be  about  eighteen  ;  but  Mr.  Tappin 
told  us  he  thought  her  about  twenty-five,  and  his  lady  sitting  by 
and  hearing  the  conversation,  made  no  correction  ;  and  there- 
fore she  would  now  be  twenty-five  and  a  half,  nn  age  much  more 
agreeable  to  the  nature  of  the  narrative  than  that  of  seventeen 
and  a  half:  but  the  two  are  incompatible.  We  have  no  interest 
in  this  inquiry,  nor  do  we  suffer  any  influence:  we  called  on 
the  Cath(  ic  Bishop,  and  we  called  on  Mr.  Tappin,  as  a  strang- 
er, and  we  left  as  we  called,  leaving  in  both  cases  our  name, 
but  without  expressing  cither  our  faith  or  views,  which  indeed 
were  not  then  definite,as  we  were  only  enquiring  after  the  truth. 
Mr.  Tappin  may  have  been  mistaken  in  the  age  of  Maria,  yet 
we  asked  more  iniin  once,  but  not  so  as  to  awaken  any  curiosity: 
we  wanted  to  get  the  facts  without  awakening  prejudice;  and 
we  believe  we  did  ;  had  he  said  eighteen,  we  should  have  pub- 
lished it :  and  we  now  give  the  fact  as  the  means  of  testing  th« 
truth. 

If  Maria  is  now  eighteen^  it  supports  that  part  of  her  testi- 
mony which  refers  to  the  time  of  her  acquaintance  with  the 
nunnery,  and  some  of  the  transactions  :  if  she  is  twenty-five 
and  a  half,  it  destroys  a  part  of  her  evidence.  Our  object  is 
truth,  and  this  the  means  of  testing  it.  "We  have  seen  in  some 
periodicals  lately,  that  she  is  estimated  by  appearance  at  about 
20,  by  some  who  have  just  had  apeep  at  her  since  her  good  for- 
tune: the  state  of  her  feelings,  her  dress,  an^  circumstances, 
■will  make  some  difl'erence  in  the  appearance  of  her  age,  and  this 
may  account  for  the  different  estimates  :  but  the  chaplain  was 
herconfiidant,  and  was  much  with  her.  and  the  facts  can  be  as- 


,■»*»■    '^ 


m 


eertained,  and  ought  to  be ;  and  she  herself  ought  to  have  mad« 
this  matter  clear,  it  was  withia  her  power. 

Inconaeclion  with  her  age  are  several  facts:  she  musthara 
been  married  at  the  early  age  of  fourteer.  and  a  half,  yet  thia 
unusual  early  a?e  is  not  noticed:  she  must  have  become  a  nan 
between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  fifteen  or  before  she  was  fif- 
teen ;  yet  she  does  not  notice  the  fact,  although  she  even  notices 
that  the  youngest  girl  entered  as  a  nun  was  but  fourteen ;  and 
when  mentioning  this  fact  we  should  expect  a  reference  to  her 
own  age,  which  did  not  much  exceed  it.     Of  that  young  nunshe 
says  she  heard  she  was  much   ill-used  by  the  priests,  and  died 
in  consequence.    We  can  too  scarciy  conceive  of  the  Lady 
Superior  instructing  a  young  girl  of  14,  or  15  years  of  age,  in 
the  practice  of  prostitution  on  \\p.v  first  taking  the  veil,as  Maria 
asserts,in  connexion  with  the  fact,  of  the  girl's  being  pious  and 
sincere, and  the  institution  a  religious  one ;  this  conduct  exceed* 
that  of  the  most  abandaned  procuress  or  keeper  of  houses  of  ill 
fame  that  exist  in  the  most  corrupt  and  volupluous  cities  in  the 
Old  World:  yet  the  thing  is  possible.    In  IMaria's  case,  who 
entered,  not  knowing  what  else  to  do,  and  after  a  few  weeks 
marriage,  the  case  might  be  different,  and  the  e fleets  different 
upon  her;  but  the  Superior  was  deceived,  supposed  her  a  vir- 
gin, and  therefore  we  can  sc:ircely  credit  this  initiating  in-jtrua- 

tion.  ,      .       ,  .  ,    .         , 

In  page  62  Maria  shows  that  on  the  day  m  which  she  tooK 
the  veil'p'ather  Dufrene  took  her  into  a  ''private  apartment  and 
treated  her  in  a  brutal  manner"  two  other  priests  afterwards 
did  the  same  that  evening,  after  which  Father  Dufrene  return- 
ed and  compelled  her  to  pass  the  night  with  him.    In  Maria's 
discriptionof  the  nunnery  she  mentions  private  rooms   appro- 
priated to  corruptions,  and  even  at  confession  when  xnprivate^ 
with  the  priest,  while  other  nuns  were  outside  each  urging  the 
other  to  go  in  first,  because  of  the  consequences ;  still  the  pros- 
titution was  in  private ;  and  this  is  the  general  idea  preserved 
in  the  book  ;  yet  Maria  mentions  singular  exceptions,  which  if 
true  are  not  reconoileable  with   this  general  piivacy  of  the 
practices  referred  to.     fn  page  35  there  is  a  description  of  the 
sleeping  rooms  of  the  novices:  thus — 

'The  beds  were  placed  in  rows.without  curtains  or  any  thing 
else  to  obstruct  the  view  ;  and  in  one  corner  was  a  small  roortt 
part  tioned  off,  in  which  was  the  bed  of  the  night-watch,that  is, 
the  old  nun  that  was  appointed  to  oversee  us  for  the  night.  In 
each  side  of  the  partition  were  two  holes,  through  which  she 
coull  look  out  upon  us  whenever  she  pleased.  Her  bed  was 
a  little  raised  above  the  level  of  the  others.    There  was  a  lamp 


ill 


16 


4 


hung  in  the  middle  of  our  chamber  showing  every  thing  to  her 
distinctly;  and  as  she  has  no  light  in  her  little  room,  we  never 
could  perceive  whether  she  was  awake  or  asleep." 

Now  there  is  no  deliberate  description  of  the  nuns  bed  room, 
but  we  learn  indirectly  that  the  apartment  for  the  nuns  is  nearly 
the  same  :  thus,  in  page  64,  speaking  of  the  nuns  she  thus  pro- 
ceeds : — 

"  On  Thursday  morninir,  the  bell  rung  at  halt-pass  six  to 
waken  us.  The  old  nun  who  was  acting  as  night-watch  im- 
mediately spoke  aloud  : 

"  Voici  le  Seigneur  qui  vient."  (Behold  the  Lord  cometh.) 
The  nuns  all  rcspoaded : 

"  Allons— y  devant  lui."    (Let  us  go  and  meet  him.) 

We  then  rose  immediately,  and  dressed  as  expeditiously  as 
possible,  stepped  into  the  passage-way  at  the  foot  of  our  beds  as 
soon  as  we  were  ready,  and  taking  places  each  beside  her  op- 
posite companion.  Thus  we  were  soon  drawn  up  in  a  double 
row  the  whole  length  of  the  room,  with  our  hands  folded  across 
our  breasts,  and  concealed  in  the  broad  cuff's  of  our  sleeves.  Not 
a  word  was  uttered.  When  the  signal  as  given,  we  al' pro- 
ceeded to  the  community-room,  which  is  spacious  and  took  our 
places  in  rows  facing  the  entrance,  near  which  the  Superior 
was  seated  in  avergiere." 

After  repeating  the  various  ceremonies  of  the  day,  iliaria 
concludes  thus  : — 

"  Standing  near  the  door,  we  dipped  our  fingers  in  the  holy 
water,  crossed  and  blessed  ourselves,  and  proceeded  up  to  the 
sleeping  room  in  the  usual  order;  two  by  two.     When  we  had 
got  into  bed,  we  repeated  a  prayer  beginning  with : 
"  Man  Dieu,  je  vous  donne  mon  coeur," 
"  My  God,  1  give  you  my  heart ;" 
and  then  an  old  nun,  bringing  some  holy  water,  sprinkled  it 
on  our  beds  to  drive  away  the  devil,  while  we  took  some  and 
crossed  ourselves  again. 

At  nine  o'clock  the  bell  rung,  and  all  who  were  awakeTe- 
peated  a  prayer,  called  the  offrande ;  those  who  were  asleep 
were  considered  as  excused." 

Thus  then  it  appears  they  slept  in  a  body,  a  watch  over  them, 
and  a  light  in  the  room  ;  for  the  watch  or  guardian  old  nun,  and 
the  exercises,  supposes  a  light  in  the  nuns  rooms  as  well  as  in 
the  novices  ;  the  parties  in  bed  too  were  to  observe  silence.  Now 
Maria  in  page  145  after  noticing  the  discovery  of  a  secret  passage 
leauing  from  the  Seminary,  remarks,  that  she  now  saw  how  it 


ly^^^ 


i7 

n'as  that  priests  appeared  among  them  without  her  before  know- 
ing how  they  got  in,  and  that  tliey  could  "  come  up  to  the  door 
of  the  Superior's  room  at  any  hour,  then  up  the  staire  into  our 
sleeping  room  or  where  they  chose.^And  often  they  were  in 
our  beds  before  us."  Wo  must  here  remembar  that  the  nuni 
slept  in  a  public  ronm,  with  a  li^ht  and  a  watch  ;  that  they  re- 
peated prayers,and  those  who  were  awake,  renewed  their  pray- 
ers one  hour  after  they  were  in  bed,  and  with  the  exception  of 
these  prayers  were  to  keep  silence  :  now,  if  this  grossness  were 
practised,  which  we  can  scarcely  conceive  commen,  even  in 
brothels— if  we  can  conceive  of  this  public  prostitution,  in  con- 
junction too  with  the  ceremonies  of  the  sleeping  room;  then 
we  can  see  no  necessity  for  any  private  or  secret  debauches ; 
and  yet  the  tenor  of  the  book  supposes,  and  expressly  says,  pri- 
vate apartments  were  the  scenes  of  gross  corruptions.  Maria 
gives  a  fact  in  relation  tu  this  shameful  publicity  of  prostitution, 
incompatible  with  the  secret  vice,  and  common  prudence.  She 
descriDes,  p.  149,  a  young  girl  having  taken  the  veil,  and  the 
name  of  St.  Martin,  sleeping  on  the  first  night  nearly  opposite 
to  her,  that  she  shrieked  out  in  ihu  night,  and  that  she  disco- 
vered the  voice  of  Father  Cluiblier,  and  several  nuns  assured 
tier  that  that  priest  was  there :  the  Superior  commanded  audi- 
bly the  young  woman  to  obey.  JNow  that  any  experienced  priest 
shoulJ  invade  in  a  public  room,  *he  bed  of  a  supposed  maid,  a 
pious  girl,  and  not  previously  corrupted,  except  by  the  suppos- 
ed recent  instructions  of  the  Superior,  is  improbable ;  for  there 
was  no  possibility  in  public  of  his  using  successfully  either  per- 
suasion or  force  ;  and  that  Father  Gtuiblier,  i'"  he  had  really 
the  experience  ascribed  to  him,  must  have  known.  Lord  By- 
ron gets  Don  Juan  into  a  situation  something  like  that  of  Fa- 
ther Ql.  ;  but  Don  J'un's  lady,  was  one  of  the  Turkish  harem, 
under  restraint,  with  no  religious  feelings  or  recent  vows  of 
chastity ;  no  previous  bad  spirits  ;  and  yet  with  all  this  differ 
cnce,  Byron  Qoes  not  make  his  hero  succeed.  Maria  gives  one 
other  case  o£  publicity,  and  on  this  occasion  she  selects  noble 
game— the  Bishop  Latique  and  the  Lady  Superior.  Maria 
shows  that  while  she  was  one  night  attending  on  the  Lady  Su- 

fierior,  and  sleeping  in  her  room  on  a  sofa,  a  bell  was  rung, 
eading  from  the  street  to  the  Superior's  room  :  Maria  was  sent 
along  the  well  known  secret  passage  to  answer  the  bell,  whea 
she  heard  the  signal  hissing,  used  by  all  the  priests  at  any  lat« 
hour;  and  tnis  she  answered  by  the  usual  '  Hum,  hum,'  and 
then  let  in  Bishop  Latique,  who  finding  she  was  a  received, 
that  is  a  nun,  directed  her  to  conduct  him  to  the  Superior's  a« 
partment,  which  she  did  5  he  then  "  went  to  bed/  (with  the  su- 


■ 


r«' 


i 

i 


18 

perior,  we  are  left  to  suppose)  '  drew  the  cu-tama  behind  him, 
and  1  lay  down  on  the  sofa  until  morning,  when  the  Superior 
called  me  at  an  early  hour,  about  day-light,  and  directed  me  to 
show  him  (the  Bishop,)  the  door."  Now  this  Bishop  story  .be- 
sides the  grosshess  of  sleeping  with  the  Lady  Superior,  while 
Maria  was  in  the  room,  involves  other  peculiarities  which  must 
be  remembered.  That  any  but  a  received,  or  a  nun,  should  be 
acquainted  with  the  secret  passage  leading  to  the  outer  door,  is 
not  to  be  supposed,  and  hence  the  Bishop  asked  a  foolish  ques- 
tion ;  but  these  apparently  foolish  things,  serve  to  detect  the 
truth;  the  other  inferences  we  shall  leave  for  the  present. 

In  page  73  and  following  pages  iV/aria  gives  a  minute  descrip- 
tion of  the  intcreiior  of  the  building,  and  ascribes  several  room* 
to  particular  purposes  ;  among  the  rest,  one  for  the  nuns  to  give 
birth  to  children  in ;  another  for  priests  deseased  from  sen- 
suality;  and  a  third  for  nuns  aiFected  by  the  diseased  priests, 
one  for  the  baptism  of  infants  before  they  are  st.angled,  and  a 
deep  hole  in  the  celler  into  which  murdered  bodies  are  thrown 
on  which  quick  lime  and  afterwards  oil  of  vitriol  is  thrown:  the 
majority  of  the  rooms  however  are  forordmary  purposes.  Maria 
sets  her  credibility  on  this  description  of  tlie  apartments,and  this 
is  u  very  weak  point,  for  the  discriptioa  of  the  room  be  correct, 
excppt  the  purposes  to  which  some  of  them  are  appropriated 
and  yet  the  tale  of  infamy  wrong  .  Maria's  best  evidence  is  her 
being  with  child,  if  it  can  be  clearly  shown  that  she  became 
with  child  while  a  nun  ;  and  that  as  a  Black  JNun  fshe  never  left 
the  nunnery,  while  priests  alone  where  the  only  men  permitted 
to  visit  her  and  other  nuns:  this  is  good  evidence  and  what 
she  could  have  estabhshcd  to  demonstration,  if  true:  she  could 
have  shown  on  what  day  she  left  the  Nunnery,  and  that  she  was 
with  child  at  that  time-  and  if  the  conductors  of  the  Nunnery 
could  not  show  that  she  was  turned  out  of  the  establishment 
for  iretling  with  child,  by  a  breach  of  some  order,  the  inference 
would  be  that  the  father  of  the  child  was  a  priest  j  and  Father 
Phelin  might  be  he  as  well  as  any  other.  If  xWaria  could  not 
recover  dates  while  in  the  Nunnery,  it  is  absurd  to  say  she 
could  not  remember  the  day  she  left  it,  and  who  she  first  saw, 
and  all  the  steps  since  till  the  birth  of  her  child  ;  yes,  you  read 
from  the  page  220  to  the  end  about  her  leaving  the  Nunnery 
and  coming  to  New  York  up  to  the  present  time  with  out  a  sin' 
gle  reference.  This  l^ict  we  think  condemns  the  book  as  false, 
or  the  authors  as  men  incapable  of  conceiving,  collecting  and 
presenting  i\\e  proper  evidence  for  such  important  facts  ;  Maria, 
the  publishers,  and  those  who  assisted  her  have  only  said  she 
was  with  child  while  a  nun,  and  that  none  but  priests  had  access 
totheNunnery;  she  had  it  in  her  power  *->  prove  it:  shehasnot 


^.•^ 


^ 


19 

done  80.  and  thus  rendered  the  story  dependant  on  a  thievish 
Ivini  <'irl  without  leferences  which  would  estabhsh  her  credi- 
bility °even  if  a  liar,  and  which  references  she  might  have 

^Tpa<^e  93  Maria  says  that  three  or  four  days  after  she  entered 
the  INunnery,  blie  was  sent  for  coal  (charcoal)  and  she  thus 
describesherperilojsjouiney  involving  numyawlul  particulars. 

This  charcoal  >:xpedilion,  is  we  think  one  of  the  most  extraya- 
eanl  statements  in  the  book.for  Aiaria  does  not  say  sbe  lost  her 
way  she  does  nol  3ay  that  the  dreadful  hole  which  she  discovered 
was  uncovered  by  accident,  she  does  not  say  that  it  was  unusual 
to  have  charcoal  in  so  inconvenient  a  place ;  all  is  lelatcd  as  a 
common  statement  of  facts,  and  these  are  her  words  :— 

"  Three  or  four  days  after  my   reception,  the  Superior  sent 
me  into  the  cellar  for  coal ;  after  she  had  given  rne  directions, 
I  proceeded  down  a  staircase,  with  a  lamp  in  my  hand.     1  soon 
found  myself  upon  the  bare  earth,  in  a  spacious  place,  so  dark, 
that  I  could  not  at  once  distinguish  its  form,  o-  size,  but  I  obser- 
ed    that  it    had    very  solid   stone  walls,  and  was  arched  c.vci- 
head,  at  no  gieat  elevation.    Following  my  direction  I  proceeded 
onwards  from  the  foot  of  the  stai,  s,  where  appeared  to  be  one 
end  of  the  cellar.     After  walkinj^  about  fifteen  paces,  I  passed 
three  small  doors,  on  the  right  fastened  with  large  iron  bolts 
on  the  outside,  pushed  into  posts  of  stc:ne  work,  and  each  Imying 
a  small  opening  a'-ove  covered  with  a  fine  g'ating,  secured  by  a 
smaller  bolt.     On  my  left,  were  three  similar  doors,  resembling 
these,  and  placed  oppofite  them. 

Beyond  these,  the  space  became  broader  ;  the  doors  evidently 
closed  small  compartments,  projecting  from  the  outer  wall  ot 
the  cellar.  I  soon  stepped  upon  a  wooden  floor,  on  which  were 
heaps  of  wool,  coarse  linen,  and  other  articles,  apparently  de- 
posited there  for  occasional  use.  I  soon  crossed  the  floor,  and 
found  the  bare  t^arth  as^ain  under  my  feet. 

A  little  further  on,  I  found  the  cellar  again  contracted  m 
size,  by  a  row  of  closets,  or  smaller  compartments  projecting 
on  each  side.  These  were  closed  by  doors  of  a  dificrent  de- 
scription from  the  first,  having  a  simple  fastening,  and  no  open- 
ing  through  them. 

Just  beyond,  on  the  left  side,  I  passed  a  staircase  leadiiiii  up, 
and  then  three  doors,  much  resembling  those  first  discribed, 
standing  opposite  three  mor"  on  the  other  side  of  the  cellar. 
Having  passed  tnese,  i  found  the  cellar  again  enlarged  as  be- 
fore,  and  here  the  earth  appeared  as  if  mixed  with  some  whitish 
substance  which  attracted  my  attention. 


■ 


<H'^ 


7 


! 


fn'^^  !  ^L^Tl®'^'  f  r!'"''  '^^  whheness  increase,  until  the  sur- 
face looked  almos  hke  snow,  and  in  a  short  time  I  observed 
before  me,  a  hole  dug  so  deep  into  the  earth  that  I  could  perceive 

f»piv  ""•.r.^''°f;P'''  to  observe  it.-It  was  circular,  perhipS 
twelve  or  hfieen  feet  across ;  in  the  middle  of  the  cellar  and  m 

K:iit^o^it:-r.tKai.^"^'^'^^  ^^^^-^  -^"'--^^^  ^- 

The  whit-!  substance  which  I  had  observed,  was  spread  all 
over  the  surface  around  U;  and  lay  in  such  quantity  on  all  sides 
that  |t  seemed  ns  d  a  great  deal  of  it  must  have  been  thrown 
mo  the  hole  It  immediately  occurred  to  me  that  the  white 
substance  was  hn.e  and  that  this  must  be  the  place  where  the 
m  ants  where  buried,  after  bein^;  murdered,  as  the  Superior  had 
inlorined  me.  I  knew  that  the  l.n,e  is  often  used  by  Roman 
Catholics  in  burying-places;  and  in  this  w.iy  1  accounted  for 
its  being  scattered  about  the  spot  in  such  quantiti.  s 

Ihis  was  a  shockmir  thought  to  me;  but  1   can  hardly  tell 
how  It  affected  me.  as  I  had  already  been  prepared  to  eipec 
dreadful  things  i«  the  Convent,  unci  had  ui,<lergone  trials  wS 
prevented  me  Irom  feeling  as  I  should  formerly  have  die  in 
simdar  circumstances.  ^ 

I  passed  the  spot,  therefore,  with  distressin'^  thoughts  it  is 
true,  aboitt  the  Uttle  corp.es.' which  miglu   fa's  in  S  «ocrit 

bury  ing-place  but  with  recollections  also  of  the  .leciarations  which 
1  had  heard  about  the  favour  done  their  souls  by  sending  them 
straight  to  heaven,  and  the  necessary  virtue  accompanying  all 
the  :»ctions  of  the  priests.  r     /     & 

Whether  I  noticed  them  or  not,  at  the  time,  there  is  a  window 
or  two  on  each,  nearly  against  the  hole,  in  at  which  are  some- 
times thrown  artic  es  brought  to  the.n  from  without,  for  the  use 
ot  the  Convent.  Through  the  window  on  my  right,  which  opens 
into  the  yard,  towards  the  cross  street,  lime  is  received  trom 
carts  ;  and  I  then  saw  a  large  heap  of  it  near  the  place 

Passing  the  hole,  I  came  to  a  spot  where  was  another  proiec- 
Uon  on  each  side,  with  three  cells  like  those  1  first  described 
Beyond  them,  m  another  broad  part  of  the  cellar,  were  heaps 
of  vegetables,  and  other  things :  on  the  left,  I  found  the  charcoal 
1  was  in  se;.rch  of  This  was  placed  in  a  heap  against  the  wall 
as  I  might  then  have  observed,  near  a  small  liioh  window  like 
the  rest,  at  which  it  is  thrown  in.  Beyond  this^pot,  at  a  Lhort 
distance,  the  cellar  terminated- 

The  top  cjuite  to  thr.t  point,  is  arched  overhead,  though  at 
different  heights,  for  the  earth  on  the  bottom  is  uneven  and  in 
some  places,  several  feet  higher  than  in  others.  ' 

Not  hking  to  be  alone  in  so  spacious  and  gloomy  apart  of  the 


,,jMs«p 


T 


It  IS 


Content,  especially  after  the  discovery,  I  hftitened  to  return." 

Now  this  extract  is  to  us  satisfactory ;  Charcoal  for  daily 
use  never  could  be  put  in  so  inconvenient  a  place :  the  terrible 
hole  in  the  floor  never  would  be  left  uncovered.    This  hole, 
properly  examined,  serves  to  determine  the  whole  questim : 
the  Catholic  priests  ouglit  to  submit  this  cellar  to  examination, 
and  Maria,  Mr.  Hoyt,  and  others  who  have  piomottd  this  hor- 
rible Disclosure,  ought  to  be  obligid  to  promenade  this  cellar, 
and  Maria  out;ht  to  point  out  thf  spot  where  this  hole  is,  or  was, 
for  if  it  be  filled  up,  the  spot  will  yet  remain,  and  the  filling  up 
must  be  distinguished  from  the  other  parts  which  h-we  not  been 
disturbed  :  if  this  hole  has  not  been  disturbed,  the  contents  at 
the  bottom  slio  .Id  then  be  chemically  and  mechanically  exam- 
ined, and  the  remains  of  murdered  humanity  must  be  detected ; 
for  we  find  by  an  entry  in  a  book,  Maria  says  she  discovered 
with  Jane  Ray,  that  every  month  affords  a  new  supply  to  the 
amount  of  three  or  four  children,  besides  the  majority  of  old 
nuns,  and  murdered  young  one.i,  who  may  not  submit  to  brutal 
force  or  voluntary  prostitution  :  but  if  the  bod'es,  bones  and  all, 
be  decomposed,  then  the  result,  or  compound  substance  will  re- 
main, and  tell  a  tale  as  true;  for  there  is  no  deception  in  che- 
mistry ;  and  if  the  bottom  be  dug  out  or  altereu,  a  mechanical 
or  close  investigation  will  discover  such  alterations,  and  afford 
at  least  strong  grounds  for  suspicion  •,  besides,  the  use  to  which 
this  hole  is  applied,  must  be  explained.     This  hole,  then,  af- 
fords the  means  of  testing  the  truth  of  Maria  Monk's  and  her 
assistant's  Htory.     Should  it  be  found  true,  the  guilty  should  be 
brought  to  justice  and  suffer  the  indignation  of  the  public;  and 
should  it  be  proved  false,  Maria  and  her  guilty  partners  shrndd 
be  made  to  feel  the  pains  and  penalties  due  to  calumniators  of 
the  blackest  die.     As  to  the  passage  to  the  Seminary,  and  that 
to  the  Congregational  Nunnery,  these  might  be  sought  after 
too;  but  they  would  prove  nothing  material ;  for  these  might 
exist  like  the  general  order  of  the  apartments,  and  be  harmless: 
the  use  to  which  they  are  alledged  to  be  put,  being  only  crimi- 
nal. 

The  death  of  St.  Frances,  in  the  presence  of  the  Bishop  and 
the  Superior,  five  priests  and  many  nuns,  including  Maria,  who 
took  a  part  in  it,  as  related  in  pages  114,  15,  16,  17,  &c.,  is  in- 
credible; for  why  should  it  be  so  public;  people  disposed  to 
murder,  seldom  call  witnesses,  when  the  murder  could  b»  (  qual- 
ly  well  effected  without  it,  and  the  old  nuns,  we  are  leu  <  un- 
derstand, are  quietly  murdered  ;  whereas,  Maria  says,  this  St. 
Frances  was  gagged^  thrown  on  a  bed,  covered  by  another,  and 
that  tlien  the  priests  and  nuns  jumped  on  the  bed  with  much 


€r^ 


11 


22 

■atisfaction,  till  the  victim  was  destroyed  :  the  priest  Bonin  it 
distinguished  in  this  transaciioti  as  most  ferocious,  nnd  Father 
Richards  is  representt-d  as  wishing  to  save  her. 

Equally  public  are  the  children  murdered,  who  are  said  to  be 
strangled  by  the  old  nuns,  attrr  being  baptised.  Mai  ia  says 
she  witnessed  the  (!cath  of  the  twins  of  St.  Catharine,  but  one 
month  after  the  death  of  St. Frances :  and  her  pre.sonce  appears 
accidentjl,  as  if  no  cwre  w.is  taken  either  to  conceal  or  fami- 
liarize the  nuns  lo  these  scenes.  One  of  the  nunneries,  we  re- 
mark too,  took  in  foundlings;  surely  some  of  the  children  said 
to  be  born  in  the  Convent,  might  have  found  a  safe  assylum 
there,  wuhout  recourse  to  unifoim  murder. 

In  p.  '219,  &c.  AJaria  relates  her  escape,  (without  date,  or 
whom  she  first  saw  as  before  related)  she  shows  the  difficulty 
she  had  !o  escape,  and  implies  that  nuns  cannot  get  out  if  they 
would  ;  yet  she  shows  in  ano'her  ptirt  before  referred  to,  that 
priests  come  in  at  all  hours  in  the  night  ;  ring  the  bell  leading 
to  the  Superior's  room;  thai  they  make  a  hissing  noise,  and 
that  the  nuns  let  them  in  after  replying  by  '  Hum,  hum,'  in  or- 
der that  they  might  not  be  deceived.  She  shows,  too,  that  she 
actually  let  in  the  Bjshop  through  this  secret  passage  to  the  su- 
perior's room,  and  let  him  out  again  by  the  direction  of  the  Su- 
perior. She  had  also  access  to  all  the  i\  oms  by  her  condition 
as  a  nun,  and  sometimes  slept  in  the  Superior's  room,  as  on  the 
very  night  she  says  the  Bisiiop  slept  there:  What  difficulty 
was  there  then  in  letting  herself  out  1  None,  according  to  her 
ovvn  showing;  and  she  and  any  other  nun  could  go  out  at  any 
time  with  very  little  contrivance  ;  just  as  easy  as  she  could  let 
in  the  Bishop  and  show  him  out. 

If  Maria  was  very  young  and  not  2r)  or  2C,  as  the  Chaplin 
supposes,  then  there  is  an  immense  difficulty  is  her  having  a 
companion  in  Jane  Ray,  about  30  years  of  age  :  and  in  all  her 
actions  with  that  female,  which  supposes  a  person  of  maturer 
age,  instead  of  a  girl  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  at  most:  her  employ- 
ments of  reading  to  the  novices  &c.  but  ill  comports  with  that 
early  age,  for  many  of  the  novices  must  then  be  her  superiors 
in  age,k!!0'-:cd  -,and  behaviour,as  she  does  not  represent  herself 
as  be'.ng;  extraoi     nary  in  ability. 

Maria  relates  that  all  the  priests  including  a  large  dl  trict  of 
country,  are  debauchees,  and  partake  of  the  crime  of  murder, 
by  being  actually  engaged  in  it,  or  sanctioning  ii,  and  that  all 
the  nuns  are  profltitutes  to  the  priests  :  and  that  thosmpf ;  iie  Con- 
gregational Nunnery,  or  some  of  them  visit  the  Black  .unnery 
through  t^-.  subterranean  passage  for  improper  purposes:  now 
the  Nuns  of  the  Congregational  Nunnery  Maria  informs  us  are 
the  teachers  all  about  the  country,  and  surely  some  of  these 


23 


would  have  repent'^'l  ami  *'ave  disclosed  the  secrets  of  the  esta- 
blishment; but  no  disclosures  have  been  made  by  them.     The 
prests  to(.  ent' r  oil  their  studies  young ;  and  some  rome  from 
abroad;  and  some   are  fonvcrtcd  from  other  religions;  some 
may  no  doubt  be  very  vvirkcd  men,  but  that  all  shr)uld  become 
debauchees  and  murderers   is  inciedible:    <il   what  time  are 
young  and  innocent  students  initiatod  ;  when  arc  (he  foreigners 
introduced  into  ih.  sn  abomioable  corruptions  1     When  arc  the 
converts  made  u  tjuninted  with  ihes,;'  new  ovidcnces  of  the  truth 
of  this  religion.     Father  Richards  is  well  itnown  in  this  city  as 
a  former  Mohodist  preacher,  and  as  amanofgroaf  humanity: 
he  it  waswh,   n-.  isb' d  to  save  St.  Fnuicis,  uiid  this  fact  has  be»n 
pointed  out  to  us  by  some  lespcciiible  Methodist  as  [iroof  of 
Maria's  story:  but  if  Father  Richards  was  sincere  in  his  con- 
version,  and  retains  his  liumanity,  and  honesty,  could  ha  sanc- 
tion child  murd  r:  cculd  he  sanction  the  murder  xho.  St.  Francis 
by  his  consent,  and  aficr  silence,  even  though  he  did  apparent- 
ly wish  to  save  her;  oris  this  assumption  of  his  wish  to  s-. 
her  put  in  to  suit  his  former  known  (haracter:  and  thus  in    .;- 
ftlity  sets  him  ;;i,-ainst  himself.     A  Methodist  preacher  and  hu- 
mane manb.^comes  a  Camidian  Catholic  priest,  and  then  prac- 
tice* adultery,  and  partakes  in  the  murder  of  infants,  refractory 
nuns,  and  old  nuns,  to  make  way  for  new  ones,  but  yet  retains 
his  humanity,  and  wishes  to  save  St.  Francis:  the  thmg  is  ab- 
surd: in  the  course  of  years  there  must  have  been  some  priests, 
who  would  have  been  conscience  smitten,  and  have  divulged 
the  secrets  :  yet  no  priest,  converted  or  not,  has  ever  exposed  the 
supposed  inhom.mitv  iuid  corruptions. 

Throughout  IMaria's  book  there  is  a  marked  Protestant  tone 
and  inttu'cnce-,  concealed  indeed  ns  much  as  possible:  we  >iave 
no  objection  to  Protestantism;  indeed  we  prefer  it  to  Catholicism 
in  every  form,  but  we  must  be  impartial,  and  we  mu^it  admit  that 
there  is  throughout   the  book    strong  marks  of  Protestant  in- 
fluence and  prejudiice,  which  sugs^est  the  idea  that  those  who 
assisted  iVlaria  were  among  that  class  who  would  wish  the  con- 
tents of  her  book  true.     Marks  of  this  kind  will  be  found  on  the 
title  page,  in  the  Scripture  quotation;  in  p'M_'e  !>9,  wheie  she  says 
"  being'unaccustomeu  to  Protrxlant  societ;/,  she  heard  wo  appeal 
to  the  Bible,"  siee  also  puges  20,  21,  25  and  26,  and  31.     In  page 
101  she  says  she  did'nlknow  what  I.  H.  S.  means;  this  perhaps 
was  the  case,  but  that  she  should  evpre.«s  it  in  the  presi:  '  tense 
and  not  say  that   she  had  since  learned  it,  from  Mr.  Ho,  t,  Dr. 
.  Brownlee  or  others  assisting  her  in  her  book,  shows  a  Protestant 
wish  to  prove  Catholic  ignorance  ;  and  an  attempt  to  conceal  the 
author  of  the  suggestion  :  in  209  is  the  same  spirit,  she  is  made 
to  say  speaking  of  the  liquid  poured  into  the  hole  in  theceller, 


^4 

she  "  thinks  the  liquor  was  called  vitriol  or  some  such  name  ;" 
■he  adds  it  will  penetrate  flesh  and  even  bones  ;  now  this  soriie 
such  name,  can  only  be  explained  by  a  contracted  wish  to  make 
outCutholic  ignorance;  as  if  any  woman  had  never  heard  of 
oil  of  vitriol,  by  itscominon  name,and  know  its  costic  properties 
The  marks  throughout  the  book  of  Protestant  influence  are  too 
numerous  to  note,  for  this  the  book  itself  must  be  seen. 

We  now  notice  a-ain  that  the  book  accumulates  all  that  has 
ever  been  said  against  tlie  worst  nunneries  in  the  worst  ages  • 
and  makes  even  additioiis  to  them.  We  do  not  however  think 
it  a  reprint ;  this  accumulation  of  crimes  in"  one  nunnery  and 
that  she  should  witness  them  ail  in  two  years,  at  a  verv  voune 
aga,  is  a  miracle.  /  /       5 

We  noticed  also,  that  the  book  had  no  ostensible  author  or 
responsible  persons  connected  with  it,  but  the  publishers   who 
must  make  money,  and  could  therefore  afford  the  risk;  Maria 
IS  irresponsible,  from  her  character  and  situation  ,  Mr  Hoyt 
has  not  put  his  name  to  it ;  Dr.  Brownlecand  Mr.  Bourne  have 
not  publicly  acknowledged  what  assistance  they  rendered  •  Gor- 
don,  to  whom  the  copy-right  is  secured,  was  paid  as  an  agent 
we  learij  from  Maria's  present  friends;   and  he  is  to  receive  a 
small  sura  from  each  edition.     Maria,  too,  was  to  receive  $80 
on  every  new  edition  of  1000,  guarantend  by  the  Harper's.  We 
have  this  from  an  attorney  who  saw  the  documont,  and  who 
concludes  unfavorably  of  Maria,  from  her  rude  manners  in  pri- 
son, when  she  visited  Hoyt  there,  and  her  familiarity  with  him 
*'  Hoyt,  what  has  that  fellow  Conger  against  you  ;  you  know  J 
have  plenty  of  money;  you  shall  not  stay  here  an  hour,"  were 
among  her  femiliarities.  Maria  in  distres; ,  in  the  Alms  House 
and  with  child,  has  turned  these  untoward  circnmstances  to  ad- 
mirable account,  with  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Hoyt  who  is  not 
now  in  repute,  even  by  Maria's  frie.ids.     The  Catholics  should 
prove,  if  possible,  whtrc  Maria  was,  if  not  in  the  Convent  or 
at  once  admit  her  residence  ;  the   former  may  be  difficult-  but 
Maria  should  have  sworn  the  child  to  Father  Phelin,  and  made 
other  individual  charges,  which  must  have  brought  on  an  ex- 
amination ;  and  she  should  have  given  her  history  out  of  the 
Convent,  as  the  means  of  tracing  her  to  and  from  the  Convent 
and  fixing  the  fact  of  her  being  with  child  while  in  the  Black 
Nunniiry.     She  has  net  done  so  ;  we  have  therefore  no  confi- 
dence m  her  Narrative,  in  herself,  Mr.  Hoyt,  Gordon,  Dwi^^ht 
the  alledged  editor,  Mr.Bourne,  or  Dr.  Brownlee,  names  unfor- 
tunately connected  with  strong  prejudices  against  Catholics 
and  with  most  intolerant  spirits,  ' 

Just  out  M.Pt.  'Faaaticisvi,'  or  Narrative  of  habella,  by  G.  V. 


